HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) today announced that its wholly owned
subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, Inc., has obtained $424.4 million of fully
collateralized excess of loss reinsurance coverage on mortgage insurance
policies written by Essent in 2017 from Radnor Re 2018-1 Ltd., a newly
formed Bermuda special purpose insurer. Radnor Re is not a subsidiary or
an affiliate of Essent Group Ltd.

Radnor Re 2018-1 Ltd. has funded its reinsurance obligations through the
issuance of three classes of mortgage insurance-linked notes with
10-year legal maturities, to eligible third party capital markets
investors in an unregistered private offering. The senior M-1 class
notes have received a rating of BBB from Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC.

“We are very excited to announce the closing of our inaugural credit
risk transfer transaction,” said Mark Casale, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. “This transaction is a significant milestone for our
company, as it expands our capital sources while also providing a layer
of protection against adverse credit losses. Additionally, we believe
that a transaction like this strengthens our mortgage insurance
franchise and enhances the role that Essent plays in supporting a strong
and robust U.S. housing finance system.”

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include “forward-looking statements” which are
subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may
be beyond our control. Forward-looking statements generally can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may,"
"plan," "seek," "comfortable with," "will," "expect," "intend,"
"estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or the negative
thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Actual events,
results and outcomes may differ materially from our expectations due to
a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.
Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors,
they include, among others, the following: changes in or to Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac (the “GSEs”), whether through Federal legislation,
restructurings or a shift in business practices; failure to continue to
meet the mortgage insurer eligibility requirements of the GSEs;
competition for customers or the loss of a significant customer; lenders
or investors seeking alternatives to private mortgage insurance; an
increase in the number of loans insured through Federal government
mortgage insurance programs, including those offered by the Federal
Housing Administration; decline in the volume of low down payment
mortgage originations; uncertainty of loss reserve estimates; decrease
in the length of time our insurance policies are in force; deteriorating
economic conditions; the definition of "Qualified Mortgage" reducing the
size of the mortgage origination market or creating incentives to use
government mortgage insurance programs; the definition of "Qualified
Residential Mortgage" reducing the number of low down payment loans or
lenders and investors seeking alternatives to private mortgage
insurance; the implementation of the Basel III Capital Accord
discouraging the use of private mortgage insurance; non-U.S. operations
becoming subject to U.S. Federal income taxation; becoming considered a
passive foreign investment company for U.S. Federal income tax purposes;
and other risks and factors described in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors”
of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 20, 2018.
Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the
date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in
assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

About the Company

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company
(collectively with its subsidiaries, “Essent”) which, through its
wholly-owned subsidiary Essent Guaranty, Inc., offers private mortgage
insurance for single-family mortgage loans in the United States. Essent
provides private capital to mitigate mortgage credit risk, allowing
lenders to make additional mortgage financing available to prospective
homeowners. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Essent Guaranty, Inc.
is licensed to write mortgage insurance in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia, and is approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Essent also offers mortgage-related insurance, reinsurance and advisory
services through its Bermuda-based subsidiary, Essent Reinsurance Ltd.
Additional information regarding Essent may be found at www.essentgroup.com
and www.essent.us.